Pitt corrected one big problem against St. John’s

Monday, 25 February 2013 08:58

Written by Ray Fittipaldo

Shot selection and ball distribution to the right players was one of the biggest problems Pitt endured in its 51-42 loss to Notre Dame. The top two offensive threats – Tray Woodall and Lamar Patterson – only combined to take 30 percent of the team’s shots. Woodall had nine attempts and Patterson five attempts. Reserve guard Cameron Wright, who is known more for his defense than his offense, had the second-most shot attempts in the game with six.

That changed in Pitt’s 63-47 victory against St. John’s Sunday afternoon. Woodall and Patterson combined to take 40 percent of the team’s shots and scored 57 percent of the team's points. Woodall took 14 shots and scored 25 and Patterson scored 11 off six shots. Wright only took one shot and the most by a reserve was five shots from J.J. Moore, which makes sense because he is the bench’s top scoring threat and should be the one reserve to have a green light when he is in the game.

Moore is the team’s fourth-leading scorer now and should be the third option because of the steep fall-off from Talib Zanna, once the team’s leading scorer who is now averaging 9.9 points per game. Moore is right behind him with 7.9 per game. And while Moore was overshadowed by the terrific game Woodall had against St. John's, Moore's contributions should not be overlooked. He knocked down a huge 3-pointer with 7:25 remaining that boosted the lead to nine right after the Red Storm had cut into the lead.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said ball movement was a big emphasis all week after the Notre Dame game, but he might as well have said ball movement to the right players.

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